Barcode Buyer Document
BARCODE BUYER DOCUMENT... 1
INTRODUCTION... 2
USING YOUR BARCODE... 2
Incorporating your Barcode into your product packaging ... 2
How retailers get your barcode into their system... 2
BARCODE SPECIFICATIONS... 3
EAN-13 Barcode Specifications:... 3
Human Readable Interpretation... 3
BARCODE VERIFICATION... 4
BARCODE ACCEPTANCE... 5
BARCODE REGISTRATION... 7
OTHER THINGS YOU MAY NEED... 7
ITF-14 Barcodes ... 7
SSCC Barcodes ... 7
Introduction
Congratulations! You have now gotten your barcode and are well on your way to getting your product into stores. There may be a few other things you should know about your barcode. This document covers the answers to the most common questions we receive and offers suggestions to what else you may require. If you have any questions or would like clarification on any issues, feel free to email us.
Using your barcode
Incorporating your Barcode into your product packaging
The first step is to simply put the barcode on your product in an easily viable flat location. This will ensure that your barcode scans as easily as possible.
This is generally done by simply incorporating one of the barcode image formats we have sent you into your product packaging. This means you can just forward the email to your graphic designer and request that they include the barcode (using whichever format suits them best). If you are planning on resizing the barcode at all, then please see out 'Barcode Specifications' section below. This is because EAN-13 barcodes can only be officially reduced to 80% of the size which is around 30X20mm. This is particularly pertinent if you require barcode verification (see the barcode acceptance section of this document to establish whether your require this or not).
If you have already printed your packaging and now wish to add the barcodes, you may wish to get barcode labels printed. For this you can either talk to various label printers in your area and arrange label printing with them, or we can arrange to have barcode labels printed for you. Our barcode labels are freezer proof up to -40 degrees celsius and are guaranteed to be printed at a high quality to pass barcode verification (with flying colours). Please contact us if you want to arrange barcode labels.
How retailers get your barcode into their system
When a retailer first receives a product, they scan the barcode and enter the relevant product information (name, price, reordering information etc). After this, every time the barcode is scanned the product information appears. For this reason we don’t require any specific product information when we sell you a barcode. We will only request product information from you if you opt for our registration service. See ‘Barcode registration’
section below.
Barcode Specifications
EAN-13 Barcode Specifications:
The following provides a guideline for the size you should print the barcode on your product. This is very important if you require barcode verification (see verification section). It is also a good guide for ensuring that your barcode scans correctly. If at all possible you should keep your barcode size within these standards. If you go outside these standards, you barcodes might be accepted by some retailers and rejected by others (although the majority of retailers aren’t too worried about it).
As a general rule your should print your barcode on a flat, easily viable area of your product. Your barcode should be at least 20X30mm, if you can keep it at the standard size of 38X25mm then that would be ideal.
Magnification
The specified magnification range for an EAN-13 Bar Code Symbol being scanned at retail point of sale is 80% – 200% (X-dimension 0.26mm-0.66mm).
An allowable minimum magnification of 75% (X-dimension 0.25mm) is applicable only to on demand (e.g. thermal) print processes. In this case, the bar height should never be truncated below the minimum required height for an 80% magnification barcode symbol.
Where an item may also be scanned in a General Distribution Scanning environment (automated scanning), the allowable magnification range is 150% to 200% (X-dimension 0.50mm – 0.66mm).
Human Readable Interpretation
The Human Readable Interpretation should be printed beneath the bar code symbol.
The recommended typeface for the Human Readable Interpretation is OCR-B at a height of 2.75mm at nominal size (100% magnification, X-dimension 0.33mm). This typeface is a recommendation only and alternative type fonts and character sizes are acceptable provided the digits are clearly legible.
Dimensions
(All measurements in millimetres)
Terms:
- Bar Width = width of barcode symbol excluding Quiet Zones - Bar Height = height of bar excluding guard bar patterns - Quiet Zone = Area of white space on either side of the bars
It is a good idea to allow for more quiet zone space than is strictly required in case of ink spread or printing inaccuracies
Barcode Verification
Magnification X-dimension Width Bar height Left Quiet Zone Right Quiet Zone
0.80 0.26 25.08 18.28 2.90 1.85
0.85 0.28 26.65 19.42 3.09 1.96
0.90 0.30 28.22 20.57 3.27 2.08
0.95 0.31 29.78 21.71 3.45 2.19
1.00 0.33 31.35 22.85 3.63 2.31
1.05 0.35 32.92 23.99 3.81 2.43
1.10 0.36 34.49 25.14 3.99 2.54
1.15 0.38 36.05 26.28 4.17 2.66
1.20 0.40 37.62 27.42 4.36 2.77
1.25 0.41 39.19 28.56 4.54 2.89
1.30 0.43 40.76 29.71 4.72 3.00
1.35 0.45 42.32 30.85 4.90 3.12
1.40 0.46 43.89 31.99 5.08 3.23
1.45 0.48 45.46 33.13 5.26 3.35
1.50 0.50 47.03 34.28 5.45 3.47
1.55 0.51 48.59 35.42 5.63 3.58
1.60 0.53 50.16 36.56 5.81 3.70
1.65 0.54 51.73 37.70 5.99 3.81
1.70 0.56 53.30 38.85 6.17 3.93
1.75 0.58 54.86 39.99 6.35 4.04
1.80 0.59 56.43 41.13 6.53 4.16
1.85 0.61 58.00 42.27 6.72 4.27
1.90 0.63 59.57 43.42 6.90 4.39
1.95 0.64 61.13 44.56 7.08 4.50
2.00 0.66 62.70 45.70 7.26 4.62
Barcode verification is a test scan of your barcode as it is printed on your product
packaging. This is required by a few large retail stores to ensure that all barcodes in their stores will scan quickly and easily. However the vast majority of stores do not require this. Please see the 'Barcode Acceptance' section to establish whether you will require verification or not.
If you do require verification, please send us an email and we can arrange for a pro forma invoice and payment instructions. As verification involves a test scan of your barcodes printing, in order to do the test we will need you to send us a copy or the product packaging with the barcode on it that requires verification. Please send this to the following address:
Barcodes Ltd 2C Handley Ave Devonport Auckland 0624 New Zealand
Barcode Acceptance
In the vast majority of countries there are no restrictions. However a few of the larger retailers in some countries have restrictions on which barcodes they will accept. In general these restrictions come in two types:
1. Some retailers require verification reports to be done on the barcodes. We can arrange this for you if it is necessary, please see the 'Barcode Verification' section of this
documents for more information.
2. One or two retailers worldwide require you to be a member of GS1. In these cases our barcodes cannot be used.
Please see below for the countries that have restrictions:
Australia
Require GS1 Membership:
• Super Retail Group
• Woolworths Australia central branches Require Verification Reports (which we can supply):
• Coles
• Metcash
All other retailers to our knowledge accept our barcodes without requiring verification reports.
China
We get various reports of restrictions by distributors in China, So if you plan on selling in China, talk to your distributors to establish if they have any problems with alternative barcode retailer numbers.
Ireland
Require Verification Reports (which we supply):
• ASDA
All other stores accept our barcodes without needing verification reports. All stores will accept our barcode numbers.
New Zealand
Require GS1 Membership:
• Super Retail Group
• Foodstuffs (Auckland and Wellington branches on food products) Require Verification Reports (which we supply):
• Foodstuffs
• Progressive Enterprises
• Bunnings
• Placemakers
All other stores to our knowledge accept our barcodes without the need for verification reports
UK
Require Verification Reports (which we can supply):
• ASDA
All other stores accept our barcodes without any problems
USA
Require GS1 Membership:
• Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club
• Fred Meyers/Kroger
• Macy’s
• J.C. Penney’s
All other stores to our knowledge accept our barcode numbers
Barcode Registration
Barcode registration is an optional additional service that we offer. It is completely optional and your barcode will work fine without it, however, it does have a few advantages:
1. It helps your product information to appear with cell phone app scanners such as Red Laser so that if your barcode is scanned with one of these, your product information will appear.
2. Barcode registration helps to generally increase the internet profile of your product. It means that if someone searches for your barcode online, your product information will appear.
3. It discourages people from illegally using your barcode. If a quick internet search tells them that the barcode is already in use, then it is much less likely that they will decide to use it.
Other things you may need
ITF-14 Barcodes
These are 14 digit carton code barcodes which are based on the EAN-13 or UPC-A retail barcode and used by large retailers for keeping track of what products come into their warehouse. Up to 10 ITF-14 barcodes can be created for one retail barcode. One of these should be assigned to each assortment of the products going into retail stores. For
example if you had a box of 24 of your product, which was made up of 4 boxes of 6 of your product, you would require an ITF-14 for the 24 box and each 6 pack.
These can be purchased through our website, or you can email us.
SSCC Barcodes
SSCC Barcodes, or Serial Shipping Container Codes, are used for pallets. These are 18 digit barcodes that are each assigned to only one pallet. A different SSCC barcode needs to be created for every pallet (even if it is exactly the same as another pallet).
These are very uncommon, however if you require them, please contact us and we can help arrange them.
